On March 22 and 23, Ain Shams University’s Department of English Language and Literature held a two-day conference in honour of Professor Radwa Ashour. Contributor Amira Abd El-Khalek reports from the first day.

Perhaps the most cringe-worthy part of ABC Family’s “Alice in Arabia” announcement was its creator’s apparent assertion that she had written the show not just for the fame and fortune (a motive we can all understand), but “to give Arabs and Muslims a voice on American TV.”

Th. Emil Homerin, author of the recently-published The Principles of Sufism, has long been interested in the work of ‘A’ishah al-Ba’uniyyah, who is perhaps the most prolific and prominent woman who wrote in Arabic prior to the modern period. Homerin, a professor of religion and former chair of the Department of Religion & Classics at the University of Rochester, previously translated a collection of al-Ba’uniyyah’s poems as Emanations of Grace, and likens her work to that of the famous Persian poet, Jalal al-Din Rumi.

7iber’s Siwar Masannat was present at the February 10 shortlist announcement for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. She writes about the possibilities and im-possibilities of “judging” novels and the relationship between identity and writing style.

Adam Talib recently gave a talk at the American University in Cairo on “Translating for Bigots.” Talib, who is working on his fourth literary translation, looked at a number of reasons why a reader might look at Arabic literature (in translation) with less sophistication than he’d look at English literature.

According to translator Allison Anderson, “over the last two years, an average of 26% of the books of fiction or poetry published in the United States were by women.” However, the percentage of women’s (translated) books on prize lists is significantly lower.

This is the International Women’s Day issue. So, I know, it should be 8s, since this is the 8th. Maybe next year: SIX POEMS & PROSE EXCERPTS By ARAB WOMEN WRITERS: Iman Mersal’s “Oranges,” trans. Khaled Mattawa Maram al-Massri’s “Women… Read More ›